This Is How Friendship Is Born
by sweet-and-simple
Summary: What if Gaara met Team Gai at a younger age? When he had the tiniest flicker of belief left in him? What happens when Gaara plays his first chilren's game? My Beta Reader is rockleerox93, so you know this story rocks.


5/19/0910:42 PM

The boy sat atop the building, watching the children beneath play with a ball. There were children in the game he did and did not recognize; none of them drew special attention, though. Except maybe the odd one who wore spandex in the middle of the desert...but the redhead could hardly bring himself to care either way.

The ball escaped the court in which they were playing, moving into the shadow of the building he sat upon. He watched with a cool disposition to see if anyone would dare come near, knowing that he rose above them all; even if he were at ground level with them, they would shrink with terror.

He was only startled, if only for the smallest of seconds, that the one who came to retrieve the ball did not wearily stalk towards the ball with their eyes glued to the ground, but ran up with a ringing laugh and bright comically rounded eyes. It was the one wearing the green spandex. 'He may not sense me here…' The boy assured himself, figuring that this boy was either brain damaged, or just entirely without his senses. This reassurance was stolen from him when the other child looked straight up at him. He feared for the child's sanity when the boy smiled up at him, the largest, most white grin he'd ever seen.

"Hi, do you want to play with us?" The children who had been waiting impatiently for the child to return with the ball groaned with horror while the others started shaking with terror. They left without looking back or asking for their toy. The raven-haired child stared after them in confusion. "Why are you all leaving?" He called out after them.

"We have to go home now." Only one of them seemed inclined to even lie to the boy. Then the court was empty except for the two.

The child that had dared to brave his reaches looked after them with a bemused expression. He looked back up to the boy with an almost pleading look on his face. He stretched out his arms, holding the ball between his two hands. He stood on his tip toes, as if he believed it would help him reach the boy better.

"Play with me?"

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"What is wrong with you? Don't you _feel_ my chakra? Don't you _fear_ me?" The red-head was given an overly bright smile from the awkward-faced boy before getting the strangest reply.

"I am Rock Lee, Your chakra is immense! A worthy opponent, even of my sensei, it is amazing!" 'Lee frowned for a second before adding warily, "…Why would I fear you? Do you wish me harm?" A grin played on his face before he swung himself into fighting stance, dropping the ball to rest in the shadows. "I will not cower! I will fight you and the stronger of us shall win."

…

'Yes, this being could very well want to die.' That was the thought going through the red head. He looked down at the child who was now identified as 'Rock Lee'. The name certainly fit the description: the name was simple and stupid and this boy seemed to reflect it like a mirror image.

"Why are you walking on your hands?" Hadn't this imbecile questioned him, and then went to play by himself? Did he have Attention Defecate Disorder? It was certainly common among his peers, a trait he quickly learned to despise…

The 'Rock Lee' was on his feet in less than a mere second, looking up at the boy with what had to be the most dangerous smile in the world; if this child had turned towards a source of light, he would blind anyone looking in his direction.

"I am awaiting your answer." He picked the ball back up and outstretched his arms again, this time there was no hurt or desperation in his features. "It shall be a great challenge! Just wait and see, just us two opponents."

"You are a strange one."

"Does that mean you will come and play?"

"_No_."

He looked so crestfallen, extremely large eyebrows drew together in distress.

"Please, _play_ with me?"

This insane child seemed to be the master of the 'puppy dog pout' as the red-head had once recalled it being said.

The red-head wasn't sure why he did it, levitating down by his sand, but only a few feet separated him from the feeble minded boy. He definitely seemed to be overjoyed by this.

The grin was from ear to ear and the red-head was tempted to look away to save his sight.

"Yosh! Thank you very much for deciding to play with me!"

The red-head had no memory of deciding to play with him, he had merely settled on the ground. Did this boy assume that that was pla-

The sand just barely caught the flying missal. The force sent the object flying back towards the assailant with as much deadly strength as it had been tossed with. Rock Lee caught it with a sun-rivaling grin before sending it back in a whirl of movement that the sand caught and threw back again, most likely in an attempt to disarm the imbecile. It took five exchanges of the ball for the pale boy to realize that he had been coerced into playing catch.

A very _deadly_ game of catch that could kill (not likely for the red-head) or disarm (again, not himself) who ever did not catch it just right or miss completely.

It took several more exchanges for the pale boy to realize…that he was enjoying himself.

For the first time, he was playing a game with another. Even if there was a chance of one of them dying... He was really getting into the game and the other boy did not seem to be tiring at all, even though they had at some point began to throw the ball in random directions to deter the other. Neither of them had yet to drop the ball.

"Yosh! You are indeed a difficult challenge. Should you defeat me, I shall run 150 laps around Suna backwards!" He posed strangely, with the thumb sticking out from an outstretched arm, blinking one eye.

It was just a game of catch. The first game of catch that the pale boy had ever played, was it really something to punish yourself over? Just to see if the strange boy would do it, he doubled his efforts to make him fail. In return, Rock Lee raced about and attempted to surprise attack the red-head. From an outsider's point of view, it did look to be more of a fight to the death instead of child's play. The ball would race from Rock Lee's arms to be caught by the Tanuki's sand to be thrown back to the impatiently waiting boy. The red-head was having fun, as was Rock Lee.

Like all good things in the red-head's life, they come to an end, and usually with a very terrible twist. This went much the same.

"Lee, Lee! My youthful student, it is time that we leave and return to Konoha!"

The red-head instantly backed away, sliding into the shadows. His jade eyes narrowed on the three figures moving towards them. Rock Lee looked towards him with confusion. He then walked closer to the red-heads position until the sand stopped his forward movement. He did not press any further, though he looked like he wished to.

"Come meet Gai-Sensei! It shall be a joyous meeting! You can meet Tenten-san and Neji-kun as well!"

He stepped out of the shadows and forced the sand aside. He took his stand two feet from Rock Lee's side awaiting the rest of the team.

When they were close enough, it was simple to tell who was who. Tenten was the one with her hair up in two buns as well as the only female. Neji had to be the pretty boy, he was not nearly old enough, or in appearance, mature enough, to be a Sensei. Gai-Sensei was obviously the eldest of them.

The green clad man began speaking about such things as everlasting friendship, chance meetings, and the fire of youth burning brightly. The red-head narrowed his gaze dangerously on the man before turning his gaze to Rock Lee to see if he understood this junk. Apparently, he did. He seemed to swallowing every word, as people do to their favorite treats. Rock Lee pumped his fist into the air after his sensei stopped speaking, halting a possible ten feet from the two boys.

"Yes, Gai-Sensei!"

Did this 'Rock Lee' not see the looks of horror upon the pretty boy's face? How pale the girl suddenly was or how surprised his sensei was? The red-head looked to Rock Lee to see the confusion across his face as he studied his team. It would be a good guess that he did, but did not know why. The red-head did.

He attempted to move away, stepping backwards and away from the expressions he was so used to. To his right, the sand arched up again. Rock Lee had seemingly forgotten who he was dealing with and had tried to reach out and stop him. The red-head was shocked by the fact that he wasn't dead. The sand had not attempted to hold the idiot; it had merely reached out to stop him. The red-head wondered briefly what Rock Lee would have done if he could touch him.

Rock Lee stepped back so that he was again beside him as close as he could be without the sand stopping him. He turned to his companions with a large smile adorning his face.

"Neji-kun, Tenten-kun, Gai-Sensei! Meet my friend…" He gave the red-head the universal expression of 'who are you again?' The red-head calmly held Rock Lee's gaze before meeting the stares of his companions. They apparently, already knew who he was; his assumption that the imbecile had known who he was got shot to the ground. Apparently, he had only known the red head by rumors and not name, there were not many red-heads in the desert. He turned back to Rock Lee.

"Sabaku no Gaara." This boy was easy to please, wasn't he? Gaara's eyes studied the boy as he seemed to light up like the fireworks. It was only a name, a cursed name. There was no reason to be happy about it. But Rock Lee, oblivious to this fact, turned back to his companions and proudly announced Gaara to them.

The freaky looking guy now appeared thoughtful instead of surprised, eyes narrowed slightly upon Gaara. Pretty boy seemed frustrated now, as if he had seen this coming but had believed his team member smarter than to have this happen. The girl was attempting to speak but looked as if she couldn't think of anything to say.

After long moments of silence, Rock Lee glanced down and Gaara was annoyed with the constant staring. Reaching through his sand, he grabbed Rock Lee's hand and tugged him back to where they had been playing catch. Rock Lee had the ball. He could feel the shock waves behind himself, even though Rock Lee looked delighted. He followed Gaara and stopped when his hand was released. Gaara moved almost thirty feet away before turning to face the boy. His sand moved in spirals around him, awaiting the projectile.

The ball was caught and than thrown back with more than equal force as before, four feet to the left of where the idiot stood. A blur was instantly there and a triumphant Rock Lee stood there with the ball in hand. He threw it five feet above Gaara's head; the sand caught it and aimed ten feet in front of Rock Lee. The game commenced after it's break from barely an hour ago. The score was 0 to 0; having silently decided to go by how may catches were missed instead of caught. That score had been given up not long after both had passed 53. Silence reigned around them as if they were entirely alone in the world.

After about three minutes of silence, the freaky looking guy began cheering. Pretty boy began pouting and crossed his arms over his chest. The girl began to look interested and asked Rock Lee to pass her the ball. Rock Lee did so and Gaara believed that the end of the game had come. He would be forgotten, he was sure of it. He was proven wrong when his sand moved to intercept the ball, once again. This throw was not nearly as powerful, but Gaara still looked over in surprise.

The girl, Tenten, had tossed him the ball, throwing it three feet above him and five feet over. The sand instantly threw it back to Rock lee, the power behind the impact forced Rock Lee eight feet from his original position before he twisted his body and threw it back to Gaara.

Testing the resilience of the girl, he threw it to her with the same force he had thrown Rock Lee. She caught it and flew into the air. She landed roughly fifteen feet from where she had been. Before anyone could ask if she was ok, (minus Gaara who was more curious if she could stand again) she stood again and tossed it to Rock Lee who took it with a blinding smile. Again, he stuck up a thumb before he tossed it back to the girl who then tossed it to Gaara.

The game continued as the ball never touched the ground. The cheers from the Sensei became louder and made less sense. The pretty boy joined in after several minutes of silently glaring at Gaara. The game became even more intense, none of them seemed to be able to throw the ball with the intensity that Gaara and Rock Lee could. The patterns interchanged, but Gaara and Rock Lee were usually up against each other. After only five minutes of all four playing, Gaara mainly threw to the Rock Lee to stop the other two from flying. No one had complained about this, except for Rock Lee and Sensei who shouted out encouragement to mingle.

"Yosh, Tenten that was an amazing throw!" The green guy exclaimed "Neji that was an extravagant show of Byukugan!" He complimented as the pretty boy turned his back on the ball, spun a chakra circle and then caught the deterred ball in the palms of both his hands. "Gaara, an awing show of immense power, using sand in such a fashion!" Gaara looked to the spandex wearing man with a 'what did you just say and who were you talking to?' expression on his face. The ball was then directed to the Rock Lee with deadly force. "Lee, your show of youth and strength is astonishing!" He then made some outlandish movement that looked as if he were sliding down a narrow, winding hole. Again with the freaky thumb and the really white teeth showing.

This 'Rock Lee' threw to the girl who then tossed it back to the pretty boy who then passed it to the Rock Lee, the ball then shot straight towards Gaara. The ball was sent straight into the dark-haired boy's face, which in whose case jumped into the air to clutch the attacking object to his stomach. He then flew backwards, twirled in midair and dug his feet into the sandy ground; stopping himself three feet from his spot. The ball soared to the Neji, then Rock Lee held the ball again, tossed it to the girl who tossed it to Gaara.

The ball was caught effortlessly and was soaring through the air to be caught by the weird child who tossed it to the girl who gave it back, allowing him to hightail it over toward Gaara, who shot it back in the direction of the pretty boy. The game seemed to go on for hours, no one had time to be bored as the game got more intense without a single interception.

A crowd began to show itself. People began to whisper and place bets, some others watched with horror. They were sure that hell would ensue at any moment.

The game halted around five hours after beginning. The ball wasn't caught and held by the four players or the Sensei. A man stood between the Neji and Tenten, catching the ball before it could be caught by its intended opponent. He was a dark-skinned man in full robes of office including a triangular hat. Gaara's sand hissed like displeased snakes, circling around him in defense. His eyes were narrowed and focused on Gaara; suddenly, people found that their schedules were very pressing and dispersed immediately.

The Kazekage, having affectively ended their game of catch switched eye contact from Gaara to the squad leader of the Konoha team. The elder man had gone quite still, eyes trained beyond the shoulder of the Kazekage with the attention and respect that shinobi held for their leaders. Then he turned his gaze to the four children that had, at some point, spread themselves at least 70 feet apart from each other out of necessity. His eyes skipped over the red-head and went between the two he had intercepted and Rock Lee.

"I am sorry. Did my son threaten you to play with him?"

Gaara's eyes focused on the man with intense hatred. He had done nothing of the sort. Shukaku whispered in his mind, taking advantage of his hatred to taunt him with what they could do to these people if only he was released. Gaara remained deaf to him and his seductive speech.

Rock Lee looked horrified that Gaara's father could even believe such a thing and begun a fast speech of what had actually happened. Quickly stating that Gaara had done no such thing and that, if anything, he had been the one to force Gaara to play. The pretty boy was looking at the Kazekage with a studying gaze, sizing him up. The green guy had also begun ranting about what truly happened, mirroring Rock Lee's version and adding his own perspective. The girl merely stood there, her gaze just as compelled as her friend.

The Kazekage turned away from them, not hearing what he wished. Gaara knew he wanted to hear something that made him guilty of heinous crimes. Not that he had enjoyed a simple game of catch as other children his age did. But Gaara wasn't like every other child, was himself… _No_, he was the demon container, Shukaku barer, Sabaku no Gaara, Gaara of the sands. He was only seven, but that was overlooked. After all, he already had experience in the art of killing. Forget that those people were assassins sent to end his life, paid by the man standing before him.

"Come, Gaara, it is time to return home." He then turned his back on them, tossing the ball behind him to be caught by the girl who looked blankly down at it. The pretty boy huffed and crossed his arms over his chest again. Gaara turned to follow the man that he hated with a passion. He should have learned in the few hours he had known Rock Lee that he never gave up on anything. Nothing. Not even him.

"Wait, Kazekage-sama!" An almost deathly silence fell upon the last occupants of the area as the said boy ran forward to stand beside Gaara. The pretty boy and girl watched on with different expressions that could mean the same thing: 'Is he really going to do what I think he's going to do?'. Rock Lee settled beside Gaara before turning to face the Kazekage. It looked as if he were making his final stand.

"Kazekage-sama, My team and I are leaving within only hours, I would ask for permission if we could continue our game with Gaara… -Sama!" He dropped to his knees, stretching his arms out in front of him and forehead touching the ground. "It will not be long at all! We have yet to declare a winner and the game would have to be stopped if Gaara-Sama left now. I promise that he will be returned before sundown or I shall run 200 hundred laps around Suna before Midnight! I swear it!"

The girl stepped forward, hands cupped together in front of her chest and her head bowed down respectfully. "If you wish, I will help return your son. But Lee is right, if he leaves now, we can't finish the game. We would be very grateful if you let him stay till dusk."

The green clad man gave a blinding smile as he copied the stance Rock Lee had kept doing earlier: legs braced apart, arm outstretched and thumb sticking up. "Yosh! As team leader, I will safely return him to your side by the promised time. Nothing shall get out of hand, I assure you Kazekage." The last statement was said more somber, as if he knew just how much that promise entailed.

Gaara watched with shock, one hand gripped the area of cloth that rested above his heart. These people, more than one, were pleading with his father to allow him to stay and play with them. It was so…startling.

The Kazekage had given in, as Gaara had known he would. The game continued until five minutes from dusk and still, there was no winner. This game would go down as a tie. As promised, the girl, green clad man, and Rock Lee followed him home. Rock Lee talked animatedly about what they could do the next time they came through the village. Gaara knew there would be no next time. His father would make sure of it. The strange guy would agree with everything his student would say and add in some more nonsense words while the girl smiled widely.

Gaara was safely delivered to his doorstep moments before the sun set. He looked upon the three that had brought him here. The fourth, the pretty boy, had returned to their apartments to prepare their things for departure. He had made it clear when Rock Lee asked why he was not coming. He had made no such promise as they had. He turned to enter his house but stopped, turning around slightly. He stared at the back of the weird kid. All were leaving to assist the pretty boy in their departure. Rock Lee turned around to look at Gaara as if feeling his gaze. He smiled softly, showing no teeth in the dying sun.

He struck out a thumb again. Legs braced apart, one hand flat against his hip and a wink, bringing it all together. Gaara was becoming use to the pose after only half a day. He would call it, "The Nice Guy" pose.

"I swear, Gaara-kun! We shall meet once again in the near future. Maybe then, our friendship can grow even stronger! I shall challenge you again as well! If not to a game of catch, then something else, I swear it!" One last smile, than he was gone as fast as he had arrived. Gaara watched his last position as if he were still there spouting impossibilities. They would never meet again, yet that boy believed in the impossible. But…had he referred to him with a -_kun_? That pleasantry was often used between friends and co-worker…wasn't it?

'_Maybe then, our friendship can grow even stronger!_'

Rock Lee had said it as if the relationship they had formed only today was strong. Gaara entered his home, his hell, his past and future, he could only hope that the strange boy would keep his promise. As he passed by people who carried nothing for him in the halls, he wondered if this is how an everlasting friendship was born.

~END~

8/18/0912:54 AM Done 8.19.09 10:24 PM


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